Bayelsa sets up University of Medical Sciences

The Bayelsa State Government says it has concluded arrangements to establish a university of medical sciences in the state.

The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, said in a statement that Governor Seriake Dickson had already forwarded a bill to the Bayelsa State House of Assembly for the establishment of the Bayelsa Medical University, Yenagoa.

Iworiso-Markson said that the specialised university, designed to have multiple campuses, was strategically established in the 500-bed facility in Yenagoa to train medical professionals in the state.

The commissioner added that the BMU is expected to specialise in primary health care and tropical medicine and would also serve as a teaching hospital for specialist training in the state.

According to Iworiso-Markson, the university will be affiliated with reputable medical institutions abroad such as the Apollo Medical Hospital in India and other reputable world-class medical institutions abroad.

He said, “A bill for the establishment of the Bayelsa Medical University for the training of medical professionals in the state has been sent to the State House of Assembly for necessary action.

“The university expected to take off in the five hundred-bed facility in Yenagoa is designed to be a multiple campus institution.

“Already a lot of work has gone into this crucial project. The university is a good way of putting that facility in use.

“The Bayelsa medical facility will have links to top-flight institutions abroad such as Apollo Medical Hospital in India and other reputable world-class medical institutions abroad.

“The specialised institution will also be a teaching hospital for specialist training in primary health care and tropical medicine in the state.”

Iworiso-Markson said that the university was a masterstroke of the government deliberately put in place to address the critical issue of the dearth of medical professionals in the state.